1. English
2. None to any great extent, I have always been interested in languages but have never needed to speak any particular one, so I always learn the basics and move on. Esperanto is, I think, a good language to learn if you want to learn any language and don’t care which, because it doesn’t take so long to get reasonably good.
3. Maybe 2016.
4. See Q2.
5. Not very often. I have some books in Esperanto but I don’t often meet with other speakers.
6. I can read and write, and I follow the flow of fluent conversation, but I don’t have much experience speaking and it shows.
7. Possibly it could play a role as an introduction to other languages for school children, not that it’s going to happen any time soon. The original aim, as I’m sure you know, was to allow people of different cultures to communicate in a neutral language whilst preserving the distinct cultures and languages of the world. Doesn’t that sound like something we still sorely need?
8. In my opinion, you would measure the “international-ness” of a language by calculating the mean distance you would have to travel to find a speaker, anywhere on land. In rural Russia you would have to travel a long way to find an English speaker, but in Britain you would not have to go far at all. Do this for every location on Earth and take the average. By this measure, English is probably the most international language and some Polynesian language spoken by only two people on a single island would be the least international. Every language spoken by people in more than one nation is, by definition, international. So it doesn’t make sense to say “only international language”, there are thousands of international languages, but English happens to be the most international.
1. The interesting thing about Esperanto is that, besides being inter-national, it is also non-national, which makes it neutral between countries.
2. I have made some comment about this above (in Esperanto). The gist of it is that I consider everything about myself, including the facts that I have blond hair, speak Esperanto, and have a beard, to be part of my identity. The only other way I can interpret the question is about my philosophy, or my outlook on life, for example believing in the importance of economic equality or human rights. In this sense, I still do consider Esperanto to be a part of my identity. Not so much speaking the language, but learning about the language has influenced my thought a small amount. For example, before learning about Esperanto, I never really thought about the arguments in favour of a neutral language. So learning Esperanto has opened my mind to many things, not just the language itself.

How often do you get to see a one-woman comedy cabaret featuring Esperanto? Thanks to Margot Przymierska, you now can! Wesele/ Wedding is an immersive cabaret about the last Polish-English wedding before the borders close, told by a real life Polish wedding emcee from Białystok, the birthplace of Ludoviko Zamenhof... who happens to feature in the show.
This collage of integration stories, raunchy wedding rituals and disco polo sing-alongs, peppered with Polish and Esperanto, dismantles (or perpetuates?) the East European stereotypes and asks whether popular culture can bring people together. The show is supported by the Arts Council England, Polish Cultural Institute and UCL Festival of Culture.
You can see the show on Saturday, July 20 at Bedford Fringe. There's an earlier showing on Friday, July 19.
Some of our friends have already seen it. They seem to have enjoyed themselves!
It's also possible to see it on:
Friday 7 June, 7.30pm at Rich Mix, London
Sat 6 July at Blackfriars Theatre, Boston

How often do you get to see a one-woman comedy cabaret featuring Esperanto? Thanks to Margot Przymierska, you now can! Wesele/ Wedding is an immersive cabaret about the last Polish-English wedding before the borders close, told by a real life Polish wedding emcee from Białystok, the birthplace of Ludoviko Zamenhof... who happens to feature in the show.
This collage of integration stories, raunchy wedding rituals and disco polo sing-alongs, peppered with Polish and Esperanto, dismantles (or perpetuates?) the East European stereotypes and asks whether popular culture can bring people together. The show is supported by the Arts Council England, Polish Cultural Institute and UCL Festival of Culture.
You can see the show on Friday, July 19 at Bedford Fringe. There's another showing on Saturday, July 20.
Some of our friends have already seen it. They seem to have enjoyed themselves!
It's also possible to see it on:
Friday 7 June, 7.30pm at Rich Mix, London
Sat 6 July at Blackfriars Theatre, Boston

How often do you get to see a one-woman comedy cabaret featuring Esperanto? Thanks to Margot Przymierska, you now can! Wesele/ Wedding is an immersive cabaret about the last Polish-English wedding before the borders close, told by a real life Polish wedding emcee from Białystok, the birthplace of Ludoviko Zamenhof... who happens to feature in the show.
This collage of integration stories, raunchy wedding rituals and disco polo sing-alongs, peppered with Polish and Esperanto, dismantles (or perpetuates?) the East European stereotypes and asks whether popular culture can bring people together. The show is supported by the Arts Council England, Polish Cultural Institute and UCL Festival of Culture.
You can see the show on Sat 6 July at Blackfriars Theatre, Boston
Some of our friends have already seen it. They seem to have enjoyed themselves!
It's also possible to see it on:
Friday 7 June, 7.30pm at Rich Mix, London
Fri 19, Sat 20 July at Bedford Fringe

How often do you get to see a one-woman comedy cabaret featuring Esperanto? Thanks to Margot Przymierska, you now can! Wesele/ Wedding is an immersive cabaret about the last Polish-English wedding before the borders close, told by a real life Polish wedding emcee from Białystok, the birthplace of Ludoviko Zamenhof... who happens to feature in the show.
This collage of integration stories, raunchy wedding rituals and disco polo sing-alongs, peppered with Polish and Esperanto, dismantles (or perpetuates?) the East European stereotypes and asks whether popular culture can bring people together. The show is supported by the Arts Council England, Polish Cultural Institute and UCL Festival of Culture.
You can see the show on Friday 7 June, 7.30pm at Rich Mix, London
Some of our friends have already seen it. They seem to have enjoyed themselves!
It's also possible to see it on:
Sat 6 July at Blackfriars Theatre, Boston
Fri 19, Sat 20 July at Bedford Fringe

How often do you get to see a one-woman comedy cabaret featuring Esperanto? Thanks to Margot Przymierska, you now can! Wesele/ Wedding is an immersive cabaret about the last Polish-English wedding before the borders close, told by a real life Polish wedding emcee from Białystok, the birthplace of Ludoviko Zamenhof... who happens to feature in the show.
This collage of integration stories, raunchy wedding rituals and disco polo sing-alongs, peppered with Polish and Esperanto, dismantles (or perpetuates?) the East European stereotypes and asks whether popular culture can bring people together. The show is supported by the Arts Council England, Polish Cultural Institute and UCL Festival of Culture.
You can see the show on the following dates:
Friday 7 June, 7.30pm: Rich Mix, London
Sat 6 July at Blackfriars Theatre, Boston
Fri 19, Sat 20 July at Bedford Fringe
Some of our friends have already seen it. They seem to have enjoyed themselves!

Always wanted to learn Esperanto but were afraid to make the jump? Interested to know what Esperanto culture is actually like? Tired of telling Duolingo for the millionth time that the orange dogs eat rice?
Then this course is for you! Ariel Bonkorpa, the president of Young British Esperantists, is an experienced language teacher and long-time Esperanto speaker. She has written blogs, short stories, and erotic poetry in the language, and has given talks and classes at Esperanto events from Slovakia to Japan.
The main goal of the classes is to be fun. Ariel’s teaching style is based on contemporary research into language learning, based around the concepts of comprehensible input (basically, understanding what the teaching is saying) and a lively classroom atmosphere. So be prepared to talk, laugh, tell stories, and have an all around good time! Unlike the language classes you dreaded at school, there will be no tedious grammar drills or long asides in English here.
So what are you waiting for? Go to jeb.org.uk/bristol to sign up and get to know the world’s most intriguing language!

Hi Steve
Good point: not everyone speaks English - not even in the Netherlands, even though many people (including the Dutch themselves) think all Dutch do. "Speak Dutch or die" may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I get your point. I was surprised to hear it is possible to communicate in Esperanto after only a week's practice. I guess it helps a lot if you speak some other languages - I don't think a monolingual person could manage.
Best wishes
Frank

I am a Staff Author at Field Engineer a Marketplace for On-Demand telecom workforce, extending from field engineers to high-level network engineers, project managers and Network Architects in 146 nations. I am an IT Engineer.

Hi Frank,
1. What is your first language? (i.e. ‘native’ language, mother tongue - if it is a language other than Esperanto)
My mother tongue is English, up to the age of 5 I spoke dialect and learnt English at school
2. What other languages do you speak?
I speak Hebrew, German, Dutch, Esperanto fairly fluently. Basic Welsh, and a working knowledge of Korean
3. When did you learn Esperanto?
44 years ago
4. Why did you learn Esperanto? (this can be any reason)
‘I was interested in the concept of a language without national overtones.
5. When do you use Esperanto? (e.g. in everyday situations, or on special occasions only?)
I write a lot in Esperanto to esperantists around the world. I read daily and listen to podcasts, mainly Kern.punkto
6. How fluent are you in Esperanto? (as fluent as in your first language?)
i can speak read and write with no problem. Though to speak I often need a few hours to get into the swing of the language
7. What role can Esperanto play in today’s world? (e.g. as an international language, or as a 'neutral' language)
if people realised it is possible to learn Esperanto within a short period of time and be able to communicate better than a person who has studied a language for a few years then inter European communications would improve 100%+ within 6 months.
i once worked a 7 night stretch with a friend who spoke fairly good Latin. She agreed she would try Esperanto for the week we were on duty together. At the end of the week we were using Esperanto 90% of the time.
8. What do you think of the claim that the only real international language is English, instead of Esperanto?
having lived in Sittard and having been told everyone spoke Engels, I soon learned “speak Dutch or die” not everyone speaks English and when they do it’s often impossible to work out what they are trying to say. I’m fairly well travelled and have found that few people actually have a good command of English apart from those who have used it continually in their employment.
I’m looking forward to your replies.
Bondezirojn
Frank
Frank van Splunder PhD
Linguapolis / University of Antwerp
‘

The University of St Andrews is inviting candidacies for a PhD studentship as part of its project “Esperanto 4.0: Millennials and the global Esperanto movement in historical and anthropological perspective”.
The deadline for applications is May 25, 2019. Details are here.

Always wanted to learn Esperanto but were afraid to make the jump? Interested to know what Esperanto culture is actually like? Tired of telling Duolingo for the millionth time that the orange dogs eat rice?
Then this course is for you! Ariel Bonkorpa, the president of Young British Esperantists, is an experienced language teacher and long-time Esperanto speaker. She has written blogs, short stories, and erotic poetry in the language, and has given talks and classes at Esperanto events from Slovakia to Japan.
The main goal of the classes is to be fun. Ariel’s teaching style is based on contemporary research into language learning, based around the concepts of comprehensible input (basically, understanding what the teaching is saying) and a lively classroom atmosphere. So be prepared to talk, laugh, tell stories, and have an all around good time! Unlike the language classes you dreaded at school, there will be no tedious grammar drills or long asides in English here.
So what are you waiting for? Go to jeb.org.uk/bristol to sign up and get to know the world’s most intriguing language!

Hi Mikeo
Thanks a lot for your comments. I think you made a good point about English being the de facto language of science while at the same time it may be difficult to understand some of the stuff which is being written in English. As you pointed out, the cultural and historical baggage associated with English could even dissuade some people from using it. The question remains, of course, whether Esperanto can fill this gap.
Frank

English.
Other than Esperanto, the only other language I can speak with some confidence is German, which I learnt at school to A-level. I also used to learn French (also at school) and Welsh (independently), but I am very rusty in both of these languages.
I started to learn Esperanto in 1994 (at the age of 13).
Because it was free to do so ... I had a book called 'Free Stuff for Kids' and one of the things I could do was 'learn another language', which involved writing to the Esperanto Association of Britain and asking to try out their Free Postal Course. (I was also generally curious about languages at that point anyway, so it was almost a no-brainer to write in and try it out.)
Mainly only when I meet other Esperanto speakers (not as often now as a few years or so ago), although I have also recently started translating subtitles in YouTube videos into Esperanto, which helps me practice my vocabulary.
I am not quite as fluent in Esperanto as my first language, but I can hold conversations about various topics (including some more specialist ones) reasonably well. I reckon my fluency now is similar to the fluency I had in German at A-level (which was 20 years ago): I don't think my spoken fluency in Esperanto has deteriorated nearly as much as my German has. (I have generally been better at written rather than spoken communication in any language.)
I think it has some value as a social international language: its adoption for official purposes has not really happened to date, but it can still help people from different countries to meet each other. (This assumes, of course, there are Esperanto speakers that one would actually like to speak with!)
I don't think that statement is true. Aside from the fact that only around 10% of the world's population can speak English (albeit more widely spread across the world than, say, Mandarin Chinese) and it happens to be very difficult to learn (even as a native speaker), there is a fair amount of cultural and historical baggage associated with English that could dissuade people from learning it. In any case, co-opting an unplanned (national or even regional) language intentionally as an international one is fraught with difficulties.
I work as a scientist and most published journal articles tend to be written in English - while that would suggest English as a de facto language of science, the language quality in articles can vary massively depending on where the authors are based. I have had to peer review several articles before publication, and sometimes just trying to understand what the authors are attempting to explain can be very difficult!
I would also add that I believe the implied claim in that statement that there can only be one international language is incorrect. Not only are other 'national' languages (e.g. Spanish, Portugese, French) used comparatively widely, but Esperanto is not the only language planned for international communication (although it does seem to have stuck around longest after its creation). Other created languages also exist (e.g. Ido, Interlingua), and someone might come up with something even better than Esperanto in the future. (That is not a reason not to learn Esperanto, though!)
The fact that it was designed as an international language, it has comparatively regular grammar, it can be learned quickly compared to other languages, it has a truly international culture that can come with it.
Not really, no ... I happen to speak Esperanto, but my personal identity is not defined by the languages I can speak.

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